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Pro Prop 64 Ads Aim To Alleviate Parents’ Legal Pot Concerns

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — New ads supporting marijuana legalization are hitting the airwaves that target concerned parents worried about how recreational pot could affect their kids.

KPIX 5’s most recent survey USA Poll shows Prop 64 passing, but six percent of voters are still undecided.

A big chunk of those voters are parents

Neither one of the ads shows actual marijuana. The Yes on 64 campaign says people in California generally agree that marijuana should be legal. These ads try to address some of the specifics of Prop 64.

The ads also discuss what will be done with revenue from recreational marijuana sales, projecting that Prop 64 would generate a $1 billion in new tax revenue for California to fund afterschool programs and job training and placement initiatives.

One thing I want to be clear on is that you don’t have to be pro-marijuana to support marijuana reform, said Tenoch Flores with the Yes on 64 campaign. And that’s why what you see in these ads is a very straightforward explanation of the public safety measures included in Proposition 64.

KPIX 5 showed the commercial to two parents, who liked what they saw.

I didn’t realize that some of the revenue is going to go towards programs that actually would help the youth and help people that don’t really have access to programs, so I think it’s a good thing, said San Francisco resident Nichole Wiley.

I thought they were very informative especially for people who have children and are concerned about child safety issues and how legalization of marijuana could affect our youngest citizens, said Alameda resident Beth Aney.

Not every parent is as enthusiastic.

East Bay Assemblywoman Cathy Baker is the mother of twins. She opposes prop 64 based on what she has seen on other states where marijuana is legal.

Well, we also see is a real targeting of youth in those other states, even though they promised in their initiatives not to do that, said Baker. You see that in not only the increased use, but the increased use of edibles and forms of marijuana like brownies that are attractive to everyone but particularly kids and that’s harmful to kids. It’s kind of misleading to say the kids will be completely protected.

KPIX 5 reached out to Doug Linney who ran the unsuccessful campaign to legalize marijuana back in 2010 to show him the new commercials and asked what he thought.

He said if he had it to do over, he would have run commercials just like these.

I wonder if Cathy Baker gets so hysterical over alcohol filled candies, rum cakes and egg nog. They contain an addictive and much more harmful substance than marijuana. — Her focus on pot doesn’t pass the smell test.